When the salvo of North Korean artillery rained down on Yeonpyeong island in
2010, some of the biggest tremors were felt hundreds of miles away, at the
top of the South Korean and US military command.

In principle the general belief is that the South, in collaboration with the
US, would emerge battered but victorious from all-out conflict with the
North. That is why a full-blown war on the peninsula is still regarded as
relatively unlikely, and why an attempt by the North to start a wider
conflict would be suicidal.